Funding success supports research in nuclear physics and galaxy evolution

Congratulations to Dr Carlo Bruno and Dr Fergus Cullen who have received European Research Council starting grants.

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced recipients of its Starting Grants under the Research and Innovation programme, Horizon Europe. Grants worth on average €1.5 million will help ambitious researchers launch their own projects, form their teams of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students, and pursue their research ideas.

Dr Carlo Bruno

Carlo's research focuses on measuring nuclear reactions of key importance to understand the origin of the elements from the Big Bang to supernovae. This involves collaboration with colleagues at the international accelerator facility FAIR based in Germany and the largest European underground accelerator in Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy.

Dr Fergus Cullen

Fergus' research is focussed on the chemical evolution of galaxies across cosmic time, tracing the formation and build up of chemical elements from the Big Bang until the present day. These studies will help us to gain insight into how galaxies formed and evolved over the 13.8 billion years of the Universe's history, and enable us to understand how the Universe became enriched with the elements necessary for life to evolve. Fergus' research will be conducted using state-of-the-art ground-based and space-based telescopes, including the recently-launched James Webb Space Telescope which will become operational in mid-2022.